Hours after the ruling BJP went to town about the alleged involvement of her as well as that of Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole in an alleged Bitcoin fraud, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Wednesday vehemently denied the allegations and she was prepared to respond to all the accusations against her on any public forum.
On a day when NCP (AP) chief Ajit Pawar confirmed the voice in the purported audio tapes on the alleged bitcoin fraud as that of his cousin sister and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, BJP MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that Supriya – along with Patole -- had conspired with a former police commissioner a dealer to conduct illicit bitcoin transactions to benefit the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the State Assembly polls.
Both Supriya and Patole denied the allegations about their involvement in the Bitcoin scam. Responding to Trivedi's allegations, Supriya said: “It's false…'jhoot hain, jhoot hain…it is not my voice. All these voice notes and messages are fake….. It’s appalling that such baseless allegations are made by Trivedi, yet not surprising as it’s a clear case of spreading false information, the night before elections”.
Denying the allegations against him , Patole said: “The entire country knows my voice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows my voice very well. BJP has started this kind of politics as they are afraid to lose. I am a farmer…I don't even understand Bitcoin”.
A day after its national general secretary Vinod Tawde found himself in an alleged “cash for votes” controversy, the BJP hit back releasing the audio tapes where Supriya is allegedly heard asking a dealer for cash in exchange of Bitcoins and Patole asking the dealer as to why there was delay in the delivery of cash.
The audio-tapes surfaced a day after former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil alleged that Supriya and Patole misappropriated bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to fund the State Assembly poll campaign. He named one Gaurav Mehta, who is an employee of an audit firm named Sarathi Associates and said that the latter had sent him some audio tapes on his whatsApp that contained the voices of Supriya and Patole.
At his news conference held in New Delhi. Trivedi posed five questions to Supriya: “We want to ask 5 questions to the Congress: one, are you involved in the bitcoin transaction? Second, are you in contact with this person named Gaurav Gupta or Mehta? Third, the chats are yours [of your leaders] or not? Fourth, is the voice in the audio clips yours or not? Fifth, who are the 'big people'?”
Earlier, NCP (AP) chief Ajit Pawar, whose party is taking on the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, sought to lend credence to the audio tapes by claiming the voice in the tape was of his cousin sister Supriya.
When media persons buttonholed for a comment on the purported tape involving Supriya and Patole, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said: “Whatever audio clip is being shown, I just know that I have worked with both of them. One of them is my sister and the other is someone with whom I have worked a lot. The audio clip has their voices, I can figure out from their tone. An inquiry will be done and everything will be clear”.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the State Home portfolio, said: “The allegations were serious. There should be a proper impartial probe so that the truth comes out.
Responding to the allegations made against her by Trivedi, Supriya said: “Trivedi made five allegations and asked me five questions and they are all false. I am happy to sit with him in any public forum -- place time and forum of his choice. It is all false and I have lodged a cybercrime complaint. I have nothing to do with any transfer of bitcoin... this shows the level of the BJP's desperation”
Supriya said that she had sent a defamation notice against Trivedi, a Rajya Sabha member, and filed complaints with the Election Commission of India and Cyber Crime police.
On his part, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said: “The person who made allegations was in jail for several months…the allegations are not worthy to be taken note of…the allegations are baseless”.
Meanwhile, denying the allegations against him, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said: “A day after BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde was caught distributing money and liquor was found in the storehouse of PA of Devendra Fadnavis. They want to bring note-jihad and liquor-jihad.”
